Map of Irish Connections in Berlin
From the Christian missionary activities of Irish monks in the 6th and 8th centuries to the buzzing communities of Irish artists, academics and entrepreneurs today, Irish people have been drawn to Germany for centuries. Berlin especially has been a place of interest for Irish people throughout time. This map gives an insight into these rich intercultural exchanges and connections. Through this map explore the city through the eyes of the Irish who have gone before!
1. Small nation, big donation
Anhalter Bahnhof, Askanischer Platz 6, 10963 Berlin
While the post-war aid of the allies to war torn German after WWII is internationally known, Ireland's generous donations are less well recognised. Ireland's relief supplies included wool, casseroles, sugar and even cattle. The goods of the first Irish donation to Berlin at Anhalter Bahnhof were unloaded in all four occupation zones making them the first relief supplies from a non-aligned country to be distributed.
2. Siren Voice for the Troops: Agnes Bernelle
Viktoria-Luise-Platz 1, 10777 Berlin
Agnes Bernelle was the daughter of Berlin-based theatre impresario Rudolf Bernauer. After the family fled to London during WWII, she became famous for her work with the British intelligence services. As “Vicki”, she became the voice of an anti-Nazi propaganda radio broadcast. After marrying Desmond Leslie, the couple moved to Ireland where Agnes became an influential performer. She remained in Ireland until her death in 1999.
3. Ulysees in Berlin: Bleibtreustrasse 34
Bleibtreustrasse 34, 11707 Berlin
Even though James Joyce’s Ulysses takes place in Dublin, there is one Berlin address mentioned in it: Bleibtreustrasse 34, the address of the Palestine Land Development Company printed on a leaflet in Leopold Bloom's pocket. Joyce never visited Berlin himself but met writer and literary critic Karl Bleibtreu in Zurich who was the son of the man after whom the street in Berlin was named.
4. Beckett's gap year in Berlin
Komische Oper Berlin, Schillertheater, Am Schillertheater 1, 10625 Berlin
Irish playwright Samuel Beckett lived in Berlin from 1936 to 1937. During his stay, Beckett frequented many museums and stumbled upon the painting Two Men Contemplating the Moon by Caspar David Friedrich. The image influenced the set design for his most famous play, Waiting for Godot, many years later. The former Schiller Theater produced a many of his plays, including Waiting for Godot in 1975.
5. Achtung, Baby: U2 at the Hansa Studios
Hansa Studios, Köthener Str. 38, 10963 Berlin
Irish rock legends U2 came to the legendary Hansa studios in 1990 to record their 7th studio album “Achtung Baby”. The creative process for the album was intense, almost splitting the band apart as told in the documentary 'From the Sky Down'. Happily, back in Dublin the band realised that the recorded material was fantastic and the record became one of U2's most successful to date.
6. Joseph Plunkett and Roger Casement meeting in Berlin
Former German Foreign Office, Wilhelmstraße 76, 10117 Berlin
In 1915, Josph Plunkett met human rights activist Roger Casement in Berlin to secure German support and arms for what would become the Easter Rising and for which Plunkett became a leading architect. Their attempt seemed to be succeful at first with Germany agreeing to provide weapons. However, in 1916, the weapons were intercepted en route to Ireland and Casement was arrested.
7. Embassy of Ireland
Jägerstraße 51, 10117 Berlin
One of the earliest Propaganda Offices was opened 1921 in Berlin by Nancy Wyse Power. The first formal Irish Diplomatic Mission in Germany was later established in Berlin in 1929. During extensive aerial bombing of the city in 1943, the Irish diplomatic mission was destroyed. The then head of mission William Warnock gave a detailed account of the bombing stating that, while he was entitled to go to the bombproof bunker, he felt it his duty to remain in the legation. Warnock managed to save the cipher codes, but lost all his clothing and personal effects. After the war, the Embassy moved to the new capital of Bonn in 1951. Now, the Irish Embassy can be found in the Mendelssohn Remise at Gendarmenmarkt.
8. An Irish sound archive: Wilhelm Doegen
Humboldt Forum, Schloßplatz 1, 10178 Berlin
The Doegen Records are Irish dialect recordings made from 1928 to 1931 by the Berliner linguist Wilhelm Doegen. Impressed by his work, the Irish government asked Doegen to make recordings of Irish speech across the country in 1916. The original copies are kept in the Humboldt Forum and copies were donated to the Royal Irish Academy in 2004. The recordings can be accessed online at www.doegen.ie.
9. Irish It Girl in Berlin: Clarissa von Ranke
Luisenstraße 24, 10117 Berlin
In this house lived Dublin-born Clarissa Graves who married the renowned German historian Leopold Ranke after they met in Paris in 1843. In Berlin, the Rankes became a bohemian high society couple, holding classes in literature and poetry, discussions on history and politics, and musical parties at their “Salon Ranke". The brothers Grimm were among the regular attendees of discussons about nation building, women and religion.
10. An Irish cartoonist in the GDR: Elizabeth Shaw
Dorotheenstäftischer Friedhof, Chausseestraße 126, 10115 Berlin
Belfast-born Elizabeth Shaw moved to East Berlin in 1946, after she married sculptor René Graetz. Here, she found a position as a cartoonist for the newspaper, Neues
Deutschland. Later, Shaw wrote several children’s books which are still known to many German children today. While her ashes were scattered in the Irish Sea, a cenotaph at the Dorotheenstädtische Friedhof commemorates her life in Berlin.
11. A German Irish Diary: Heinrich Böll
Heinrich-Böll-Bibliothek, Greifswalder Straße 87, 10409 Berlin
Heinrich Böll's Irish Journal is one of the most famous books about Ireland by a German author. Böll had a deep attachment to Ireland and a considerable amount of his writing was completed in his cottage on Achill island which to this day continues his legacy as a writers' retreat. The library Heinrich-Böll-Bibliothek in Berlin, commemorating the author, received its name in 1996.